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Pat Pridgen
Pat Pridgen was temporally chief of firehouse 51 while Wallace Boden was taking furlough. He was previously chief of firehouse 17 prior to it being shut down by Gail McLeod. Biography Pridgen worked at a desk in fire prevention for ten years which eventually allowed him to work as a firehouse chief. He ran firehouse 17 until its closure and it was one of the worst run houses in the city while under his command. Initially, he tries to get along with the members of firehouse 51 but he takes jokes too far and ends up insulting and humiliating his squad. He continued to call Otis by the nickname Gutter Ball, despite no one else picking it up and Otis not liking the nickname, and when Joe Cruz tries to tell him that he's going too far he makes a comment insulting his weight. Within the first shift, after finding out that Casey is hooking up with his ex-wife, he appears to hold a vendetta against him. He talks to Kelly Severide about him, saying that he believes he runs a sloppy company and is disrespectful towards authority. Despite disagreeing with him, Pridgen tries to bribe Severide into spying on Casey for him but he turns down the offer. Following a call, Pridgen insults Otis again after he gets stuck inside the house. Casey says that he shouldn't treat his men with such disrespect and that the reason that Otis was over-eager and got himself trapped was because he was trying to prove himself. Pridgen calls Casey and Severide into his office and says that he won't stand insubordination, despite having commended Severide on his call against Pridgen's orders earlier. (Headlong Toward Disaster) During an apartment fire, Pridgen redeploys truck 81 to another situation where a man injured his leg falling down the stairs. In turn, this leads to the apartment fire being short staffed, the building manager sneaking back into the building, and then him eventually falling from the third floor, putting him into critical condition. An investigation is started into firehouse 51 and the decisions which Pidgen mades. Pidgen lies and tries to shift blame to Casey, saying that he believed, based on the information he had, that it was a more urgent call than it was and that Casey should've realised this and returned to the fire sooner. When Severide makes a differing statement, Pridgen suggests that he'd make a good captain and that he could also be stripped of his title. Severide says that he won't amend his statement. He writes out a statement for Tommy Welch, saying that the truck was diverted for what was believed to be a life-threatening injury but Welch refuses to sign it. Pridgen throws him out of the house. Welch gives a statement in support of Severide's which relieves Pridgen of his command. (Red Rag the Bull) Trivia * He smokes cigars * According to Beth, he became bitter and vicious after his firehouse shut down. * Beth is 10 years his junior Appearances Category:Characters Category:Guest Characters Category:Firehouse 17